Langer surges clear at Senior Open

Overnight leader Bernhard Langer continued to race away with the Senior Open at Royal Porthcawl, following up his opening-round 65 with a 66 to lead by seven shots.

The two-time Masters champion is chasing his fourth Senior major title and won the Senior Players Championship last month. His imperious form around the links of Royal Porthcawl in the opening two rounds makes his seven-shot lead over Chris Williams and Colin Montgomerie appear insurmountable.

Despite dropping a shot on the opening hole of his second round, Langer still reached an 11-under mark that ties the Senior Open record for 36 holes with Fred Funk's effort at Sunningdale in 2009.

"It wasn't the kind of start I wanted today, but from that point on, I settled down and I played some really good golf," said Langer, who carded six birdies in his round. "I missed a couple of opportunities earlier on, but then I started to play a little better as well and brought it home to the clubhouse with six under par from that point on, which I'm very pleased with overall."

Montgomerie started his round just as Langer was finishing his and dropped 14 shots behind his fellow former Ryder Cup captain by bogeying the first two holes. However, six birdies on the next seven holes saw him reach the turn in 33 en route to a 66.

""Bernhard's not coming back, so you've got to get there and put pressure on him," said Montgomerie. "I shot 66 and I'm seven behind, so you can't not give all credit to him.

"He is 56 years old and he has a methodical, clinical approach. But we'll do our best over the weekend. Believe me, I'll be doing my utmost to try and make this as interesting as possible."

Montgomerie's playing partner Tom Watson also shot 66 including an eagle on the 18th to stand in a tie for fifth place at 2-under, while Miguel Angel Jimenez - making his Senior Open debut - eagled both the first and 18th holes but had to settle for a two-under 69 and an overall tie for 12th.